Lamar Odom leaves rehab

NBA veteran Lamar Odom has checked out of a rehabilitation center after just one day, according to a report on People.com.

The report cited sources who said Odom, 33, arrived at the drug and alcohol center Wednesday morning and left Thursday afternoon.

A source told ESPN that Odom was staying at a Los Angeles hotel last week and friends were trying to help him deal with a drug problem. TMZ had reported that he was missing for 72 hours after a fight with his wife, Khloe Kardashian Odom. Odom’s agent refuted a TMZ report Sunday.

Former teammates have reached out as the troubled Lamar Odom continues to struggle off the court, writes Dave McMenamin. Story

TMZ also reported that people close to Odom feared he was involved with drugs.

Odom was arrested early Aug. 30 on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to police. He was jailed on $15,000 bail and released at that time.

He spent last season with the Los Angeles Clippers and had been pursued in free agency this summer by the Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers.

Odom had his best years during his seven seasons with the Lakers, beginning in 2004-05. The team won NBA championships in 2009 and ’10, and Odom won the NBA’s sixth man award in 2011.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Lakers Willing To Sign Lamar Odom If He Goes To Rehab

Lamar Odom doesn’t have a lot of options. He hasn’t played well for the last couple of seasons and most teams don’t want to deal with the Kardashians. Now, with these drug accusations floating around, it will make it even hard for him to find a spot in the NBA. The Clippers wanted him back, but moved on because of the drama. The Lakers maybe the only team that will throw him a lifeline. Radar exclusively reported, Odom’s basketball career isn’t over yet, because the 6’10″ forward has been thrown a bone by the Los Angeles Lakers — who have offered to save a spot on the team for Odom if he agrees to rehab treatment. The team’s general manager, Mitch Kupchak, offered a sensational lifeline to 33-year-old Odom’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, “because the organization and the Buss family are extremely concerned about him,” according to a source with knowledge of the situation, who spoke exclusively to Radar. We will see, I still doubt it, but if Lamar plays anywhere next year, it will probably be the Lakers.
Read more at http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2013/08/report-lakers-willing-to-sign-lamar-odom-if-he-goes-to-rehab/#8jW2XkegVAiWfgVz.99

Mike Tyson: ‘I Don’t Know If I Want To Be Around No More’

Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

Mike Tyson talked with Matt Lauer on the TODAY show
“There’s no one who can surpass me in the pain I’ve endured,” Tyson said
“I don’t know if I like this sober guy.”

In his first interview since declaring himself a “vicious alcoholic” on the “verge of dying,” former heavyweight Mike Tyson opened up about his battles staying sober.

“I won’t survive if I don’t get help,” Tyson told Matt Lauer on the TODAY show during a sit-down interview in Las Vegas that Lauer described as “candid, confusing and revealing.”

“When I start drinking and I relapse, I think of dying,” Tyson said. “I’m in a real dark mood, I think of dying. And I don’t know if I want to be around no more.”

Tyson surprised the media last week when he used a press conference touting his return as a boxing promoter to confess his battles with addiction.

“I want to change my life, I want to live a different life now,” he said at the time. “I want to live my sober life. I don’t want to die.”

Six days after, Tyson told Lauer he’s been sober 12 days.

“It’s a real challenge,” Tyson said of his fight to stay clean. “I don’t know if I like this sober guy. It’s hard for me to live normal. Straight is hard.”

Tyson, who has an upcoming memoir, HBO special and Fox Sports 1 documentary series, told Lauer he’s been fighting demons in his head since he was born.

“Yeah, it is kinda strange and scary,” Tyson said. “I was born that way.”

Though Tyson has been making amends in his life, he still won’t apologize for the 1991 incident with Desiree Washington that led to a three-year prison sentence for rape.

“I’ve done nothing,” Tyson said. “I really didn’t do anything to to her. I didn’t rape her, I didn’t beat her, I didn’t do anything to her. I’m not going to make amends.”

Lauer asked Tyson about whether all his failures will help him succeed in his fight to conquer his addictions.

“100 percent,” Tyson said. “No one’s failed more than I did. No one’s seen more than I’ve seen. I’m the king of the barbarians. There’s no one who can surpass me in the pain I’ve endured.”

Ricky Seals-Jones’ Dad Claims His Son Was Offered $600,000 for Commitment

BY ETHAN GRANT

Texas A&M freshman wide receiver Ricky Seals-Jones was one of the most heavily recruited high school players in the nation before he committed to the Aggies last December.

According to his father, Chester Jones, the 5-star wideout left a $600,000 deal on the table from a collegiate powerhouse before ultimately choosing College Station as his new home.

CBS News reporter Armen Keteyian collaborated with Sports Illustrated’s Jeff Benedict to author a new book entitled, The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football, in which the duo tackle various layers and angles of college football that the casual fan would never see.

As reported by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, Keteyian is speaking out in advance of the book’s release by sharing some of the more mind-blowing details from his investigation on the subject, and the news on Seals-Jones is quite shocking.

According to Keteyian (via Wetzel), there’s a full chapter in The System devoted to the recruitment of the former Sealy High School star.

Per the report, a “top-20 program” offered Seals-Jones and his family “$300,000 in cash, use of a luxury suite during football season, eight season tickets and $1,000 per month for Ricky and $500 for the family” if he signed their national letter of intent.

The elder Jones took it a step further, claiming that the offer was “a lot higher than that,” and that in addition to the $600,000 offer, one ACC and one SEC school offered to double any monetary figure the Seals-Jones family was weighing from another program.

In the end, Seals-Jones and his family rejected all of them “out of principle and the fear of inevitably getting caught.”

247Sports’ composite rankings listed Seals-Jones as the No. 25 player nationally in the 2013 class. He was also ranked as the No. 2 athlete in the nation and the No. 2 player in Texas.

Seals-Jones is expected to play an important role as a freshman in Kevin Sumlin’s offense this year. The young wideout has been mixing in with the first team on occasion, according to a tweet from Aggie Sports:

Listed at 6’5″, 230 pounds, Seals-Jones was a standout on both sides of the ball in high school. As you can see from this highlight film, he was an impressive physical specimen as both a quarterback and safety.

Since his size and hands make him an ideal receiving target for Johnny Manziel and the Aggies offense, Sumlin has been working Seals-Jones in the mix as a receiver—the position many analysts projected him to transition to once in college.

Mike Shanahan: Super Bowl or bust for Washington Redskins

By Steve DelVecchio

Elvis-Grbac-Threw-Ball-at-Al-Davis-Because-of-Mike-ShanahanWashington Redskins fans have high expectations for their team heading into the 2013 season. Robert Griffin III is coming back from the second major knee surgery of his career, but he claims he is healthy and ahead of schedule in his rehab. And Mike Shanahan shares the same opinion as the fans.

“(The players) have set the expectations,” Shanahan said earlier this week, via the team’s official Twitter account. “Coaches coach, players play and together all of us can win championships and that’s what we plan to do. We have a team that you’re going to be proud of.”

The Redskins reached that playoffs last year in RG3′s first season as the team’s quarterback, so there is plenty of reason for optimism. A healthy Griffin brings stability to the most important position on the field. Should he struggle to regain his 2012 form or go down with another injury, Washington could become just another mediocre team.

Some would argue that Griffin should take a more conservative approach this season and become more of a pocket passer, but that is not his game. He has the ability to make throws, but he recently made it clear that he still intends to take off if the defense is giving him space.

The Redskins should probably focus on winning the NFC East and getting back to the playoffs before thinking Super Bowl, but every team has the same goal — to win a championship. There’s nothing wrong with Shanahan preaching that given the improvements his team has made since last year’s 10-6 campaign.

Kobe Bryant’s Mansion is for Sale

By Mark Gunnels

Kobe Bryant has been stealing the headlines due to his amazing recovery from his Achilles injury. There’s still uncertainty of when the all-time Lakers leading scorer will return, but he’s well ahead of schedule. Now Kobe is finding another way to make news. The Los Angeles Times is reporting the living legend is selling his Newport Coast home for $8.6 million. There is an 850-square-foot gym, a hair salon, a paneled office/library with a shark tank, a theater, four bedrooms and seven bathrooms in the two-story house. The grounds include a swimming pool and spa, lawn, a fire pit and an outdoor kitchen.

Atlanta High School Football Player Dies After Collapsing During Scrimmage

By Glenn Erby

An Atlanta are high school football player died Friday night after being injured during a scrimmage. Creekside High School 11th grader, DeAntre Turman, died after being injured on the Banneker High School field Friday night according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Samantha Evans, spokeswoman for Fulton County schools said the teen was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of this student,” Evans said early Saturday. “This is truly a horrific way to begin a school year.” Details of what happened were not released, but an autopsy is expected to be conducted by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office. The Class of 2015 recruit had an offer from Kentucky, according to 24/7 Sports.

Add Snitch To Alex Rodriguez’s Legacy

Christine Brennan, USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps now the players’ union will tell A-Rod what it should have told him long ago: that he is completely on his own, that he can’t rely on any help from the union.

He was suspended for 211 games — but allowed to keep playing because apparently no one can roust the arbitrator from his summer cottage
If A-Rod and/or his associates gave MLB investigators documents including Braun’s and Cervelli’s names, that would be a violation of the CBA
The good news about this news is that it focuses us even more on just how awful it is that A-Rod continues to play when he should be suspended

Is anyone surprised that in addition to being a cheater, a liar and a narcissist, Alex Rodriguez also reportedly is a snitch?

By any measure, that’s hitting for the cycle in baseball’s Steroids Era.

The hits just keep on coming for the man believed to be among the worst performance-enhancing drug users in Major League Baseball history. Just a week and a half after he was suspended for 211 games — but allowed to keep playing because apparently no one can roust the arbitrator from his summer cottage – “60 Minutes” reported that members of Rodriguez’s “inner circle” told authorities that 2011 National League MVP Ryan Braun and Francisco Cervelli, A-Rod’s teammate with the New York Yankees, also used PEDs obtained from the Biogenesis clinic in South Florida.

Nothing enhances clubhouse harmony quite like the news that a player already believed by many to be at the very least a nuisance and at the worst a pariah actually threw one of his own teammates under the bus in the Biogenesis investigation.

If the “60 Minutes” reporting is accurate, A-Rod not only violated baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, he also alienated the last segment of our population that could possibly be on his side: the players’ union. Rodriguez denied the allegations.

REACTION : Funniest tweets about A-Rod report

According to the CBA, any allegations of PED use are to be handled privately before a player’s name is made public. If A-Rod and/or his associates gave MLB investigators documents including Braun’s and Cervelli’s names, that would be a direct violation of the CBA. All of a sudden, it looks as if MLB knew exactly what it was doing when it threw the book at Rodriguez in the form of that massive 211-game suspension.

DENIAL: Rodriguez says he did not rat out other players

Perhaps now the players’ union will tell A-Rod what it should have told him long ago: that he is completely on his own, that he can’t rely on any help from the union and that when it comes time for the union rep to show up at arbitration, he might either a.) get lost on the way, or b.) join the MLB rep in voting against A-Rod, rendering the independent arbitrator’s third-and-usually-deciding vote moot.

SELIG: Commissioner defends A-Rod ban

We can only hope. After all, what self-respecting union would ever support a guy who ratted out two other members of the union, especially when the snitch is the ring leader of the whole operation? A-Rod is eight years older than Braun and nearly 11 years older than Cervelli, and already admitted to doping from 2001-2003, when Braun and Cervelli were still in school.

The good news about this news is that it focuses us even more on just how awful it is that A-Rod continues to play when he should be suspended, as his Biogenesis brethren were. To see A-Rod in pinstripes, pretending as if everything is normal, is worse than watching Barry Bonds’ tainted march to the career home run record.

By playing, A-Rod continues to harm whatever legacy he has left. Let’s hope that soon, he is kicked out of the game forever, putting him out of his misery, and us out of ours

Dez Bryant Will Be Mad at NCAA if Johnny Manziel Doesn’t Get Suspended

By Robert Littal

Dez Bryant was suspended for lying about having a dinner with Deion Sanders that wasn’t even a violation, so I understand why he would upset if Johnny Manziel got a pass. Here is what Bryant had to say about the NCAA courtesy of Clarence Hill of Cowboys Corner. “Hell yeah, I’ll be mad,” Bryant said. “I will be mad. But I don’t want him to get suspended. I will be mad more at the NCAA on how they do things. I just feel like it’s not fair. This is something I have no problem talking about because I feel like somebody needs to say something to him and let it be known how they treat people is not right.” What he’s saying it is true, but don’t expect Manziel to get punished. He’s Johnny Football.

Shabazz Muhammad Threatened with D-League Stint If Behavior Continues

BY TYLER CONWAY

It seems Minnesota Timberwolves guard Shabazz Muhammad’s decision to break the rules won’t just earn him a trip back to the NBA’s Rookie Transition Program next year. It could cost him a spot on the Timberwolves’ 15-man roster if he doesn’t learn his lesson.

Flip Saunders, Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, spoke with Dan Barreiro of KFAN about Muhammad’s recent behavior Friday and made clear the organization wasn’t pleased.

While the former Timberwolves coach acknowledged he hasn’t talked to the former UCLA standout quite yet, Saunders said discipline is coming down the pike. Specifically, he noted a trip to the Timberwolves’ D-League affiliate in Des Moines if Muhammad’s maturation problems continue (h/t Pro Basketball Talk’s Scott Schroeder):

In our league, you have to be disciplined and being ‘disciplined’ is being able to adhere to whatever rules are given and you gotta abide by the rules. So that’s been disappointing. But when I talk to him, he’s either gonna learn the rules and learn to abide by things with the big boys or he’s gonna really quick learn a geography class: where Des Moines is in the NBDL down in Iowa.

The Timberwolves traded for the rights to Muhammad, the No. 14 pick in this year’s draft, in a deal with the Utah Jazz. Minnesota also received the rights to the No. 21 pick, Louisville center Gorgui Dieng, in exchange for No. 9 pick Trey Burke, the reigning national player of the year in college basketball.

Muhammad was sent home Tuesday evening from the 2013 Rookie Transition program due to a rules violation. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reported that Muhammad brought a female guest back to his hotel room for the night, just hours after being given specific instructions that said no guests were allowed—regardless of gender.

The league’s four-day seminar is meant to give rookies a learning experience of how to adjust from college to the NBA lifestyle. Players and coaches, past and present, give presentations on things such as money management and how to handle the nightly grind of being a pro basketball player.

About 50 players enrolled in the program this year. Muhammad was the only one who was kicked out before Friday’s end date. He will be expected to re-enroll in the class for next season and will be fined an undetermined amount.

The incident is the latest in a string of disappointments for Muhammad, who has battled troubles on and off the floor. Expected to resurrect UCLA’s basketball program and become a top-five pick, the 6’6″ swingman ran afoul of NCAA bylaw and had a rather inconsistent season.

Muhammad was suspended for the first three games of the 2012-13 season after being found in violation of amateurism rules. An investigation had uncovered that he received impermissible benefits, including his lodging and travel expenses paid in a total of about $1,600. He was ordered to repay the money as part of his eligibility agreement.

On the floor, Muhammad averaged 17.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, struggling at times with his shot. The Bruins won the Pac-12 regular-season championship, but were eliminated in their round of 64 game in the NCAA tournament.

It was also found out that Muhammad had lied about his age while playing youth basketball. He was a year older than most freshmen players last season, having been born in 1992 rather than 1993.